If you are suing your doctor in court for a botched-up c-section that leads you to go into early heart failure, you will need testimony from medical experts to win your case in court! This is because medicine is a vast and complex field with facts and evidence that are generally to complex and detailed for juries without extensive medical education to understand. In these instances, the juries will not be able to decide if the plaintiff’s doctor should indeed be held guilty for his or her actions. Many states take this one step further by requiring you to have evidence and opinions from medical experts before being eligible to file a lawsuit.
If you are thinking about suing your doctor in court for medical malpractice, you’ll need to provide certain testimonies, have certain medical experts take the stand, and when you’ll need to have an expert take the stand if you want to successfully win your case in court. You will also need to have a personal injury lawyer in Colton present. This article explains all of this and more, so read further to learn more!
Why do you need a medical expert to testify at your court hearing anyway?
If your personal injury lawyer does not present medical experts to testify in front of the jury and judge, the judge will likely either dismiss your case or deliver an early verdict which will probably not be in your favor. The judge will be forced to this decision because they have to follow court orders which stipulate that juries hear medical expert evidence and opinions before they form a verdict. This is because medicine is far too complex and involved for the average jury to understand on their own! That said, the courts encourage juries to come to their own conclusions rather than be heavily influenced by the evidence presented and opinions voiced by the medical experts. You’ll need your personal injury lawyer to help you find the medical experts who will win your case in court. This is large because they (medical experts) are expensive and hard to find.
What happens when the medical expert testifies?
When you and your personal injury lawyer go to court, you’ll find that the medical expert will answer the two questions that are core to any medical malpractice case. They are:
● Did the doctor follow the standard of care that was expected of him or her?
● Did the doctor’s negligence result in your bodily injury?
Standard of care – the courts define standard pf care as the measures and precautions that a doctor in a particular specialty is expected to take and exercise towards his or her patients in certain situations. The expert will then voice his or her opinion about the doctor’s standard of care towards the patient in light of what is expected of his or her profession in terms of standard of care. Since no medically established rules or guidelines exist that define or regulate the standard of care in medicine, medical experts tend to rely on respected medical publications like the Journal of American Medicine (JAMA) and or medical board guidelines as the criteria for evaluating the doctor’s standard of care. Since the evidence being presented is largely subjective, jury members do not have to rely on it when forming their own opinions regarding the doctor’s guilt or innocence.
Did the doctor’s malpractice cause bodily injury to the patient?
The medical expert must use hard evidence to opine if the doctor’s actions caused the patient (you) bodily injury. Since many factors can contribute to your bodily injury, your doctor’s negligence may have played a minor and indirect role in your overall bodily injury. It is in light of this reality that medical experts inform the jury about the probability of the doctor’s failure to exercise the standard of care caused your bodily injury.
Who qualifies as a medical expert?
There are times when the doctor’s breach of the standard of care is obvious. Testimony from a medical expert is not needed in these situations. However, the doctor must be guilty of violating two components of a particular rule. If these components are met, you don’t need to hire a medical expert at your court hearing. They are:
● Instances when only the doctor or medical staff’s actions had a direct outcome on your bodily injuries
● The injury could only have been caused by the doctor’s lack of standard of care.
You will need legal and medical experts as medicine is complex and so are medical malpractice cases. You are much more likely to win your malpractice case in court if you hire a good legal team and medical expert to testify on your behalf.